


Guess Who's Back In Town

by edgy_fluffball



Series: Tumblr prompts [9]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, British Actor RPF
Genre: Angst, Gwil Tries To Make It Right, Heartbreak, Joe Is A Good Friend, M/M, Part Two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 11:09:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17897312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgy_fluffball/pseuds/edgy_fluffball
Summary: Part Two/Continuation of "The Boys Are Back In Town".Gwil has an epiphany and Joe tries to get his friends to make up.





	Guess Who's Back In Town

A phone ringing woke him up. He stared into the darkness of his bedroom, trying to locate it and remembering where he had dropped it after he had come home earlier. Remembering where he left things and what he had to do had become harder. He stretched his legs out of his bed and pushed himself upright, swaying a little before he regained his balance and started to make his way towards the kitchen where he thought he had left the phone on the table. Its brightly flashing display illuminated the room just enough to keep him from bumping his toe on the doorframe.

‘Yes?’

‘Call him!’

‘What the fuck, Joe, it’s two in the morning!’

‘Call him later.’

‘No.’

‘Stubborn, freaking donkey! You put yourself through torture and hell, hurting both you and him and I am fed up with having to pick up the pieces. It just isn’t fair, you know? Why am I the one to play nanny for two grown men? I am fed up, you hear me? Fed up!’

‘Joe, it’s two in the morning – ‘

‘Didn’t stop Ben from calling me an hour ago, crying and screaming at me,’ Joe seemingly moved, judging by the changed breathing pattern, ‘he hung up only now. I called you the very next thing.’

‘You can’t expect me to do that!’

‘I do, oh God, I do expect that,’ Joe huffed into the receiver, ‘you better had sort this out, otherwise I will see myself forced to get on a bloody plane and come over there. Get your shit together, you are an adult!’

Joe hung up on him, leaving him standing in the middle of his dark kitchen, clutching his phone to his chest. Gwilym could barely decide whether to go back to the bedroom, he stayed where he was, rooted to the spot, unable to do as much as move a finger. He stared into the darkness of the room without knowing what to look for, somehow hoping for a revelation. The hand that still held his phone dangled over the kitchen table, as if detached from his body. He set the phone down after another minute, rubbed his eyes and turned back to the bedroom.

Joe’s call had not only disrupted his sleep. It had caught him unaware and had him thinking even days later.

He went about his business as usual, setting one foot in front of the other – not that he could do much else. London, despite its size and vastness, felt like a restricted area. Whenever he went out to the shops, the station, anywhere, he felt the need to check, look over his shoulder to make sure he did not tread where he could potentially run into Ben. They lived in different boroughs, always had and they had never started to think about moving in together, which was down to him cutting their time together short.

He had thought about his decision in great detail before he broke it to Ben, anything else would have been overeager and plain stupid. He had thought about his decision for a long time, carefully pondering every possible outcome. The decision had been made based logic thinking, after all.

‘It was the only logic thing to do,’ he had told his sister over the phone after he had spent the first day back in London lying on the sofa, lacking the energy to unpack his suitcase, ‘there was nothing else I could have done.’

‘Are you okay?’ Rhiannon had asked and Gwilym had not known what to respond, ‘Listen, Gwil, you are going to hate what I am about to tell you but I still need you to hear it. It might have seemed like the only logical decision at the time but that doesn’t make it the right decision.’

Gwilym had thanked her for the wisdom she shared with him and promised to update her if anything were to happen that related to his dating life. So far, the only thing he could have reported was the constant nausea that came with being not sure about his decision anymore, combined with a lack of sleep and constant second guessing himself.

And then there was Joe’s call. And the next one. And the one that followed. After calling him ten times in three days and promising to continue calling him after every time Ben called him, he had received a single text message from Joe, telling him that he was coming to London and expected him to see him at least once.

‘I’ll be staying at Ben’s,’ Joe had explained, ‘he needs me.’

A pang of something Gwilym could not describe entirely, a mix of guilt, jealousy and something else had washed over him, making it almost impossible to distinguish between the emotions the short text had evoked in him. He had told Joe to come round whenever, not taking into account the boundless enthusiasm for any set goal Joe possessed.

Joe waited for him when he came home later that day, a coffee in his hand for himself and a warm smile for Gwilym. He hugged him, tight enough to make him forget the ache inside for a moment and have him inhale deeply. Something about Joe’s scent made him remember that he had this friend, this person willing to come and see him even though he was upset about how Gwilym had handled things.

‘Come in,’ Gwilym pulled back a little and got his keys out, ‘the sun’s nice but not nearly as warm as it looks.’

They went inside and Joe went straight for the sofa. He watched as Gwilym put his shoes away and put the kettle on in the kitchen.

‘Hey Gwil,’ he called out for him, leaning forward a little, ‘hey buddy, you’ve been stirring that tea for a couple of minutes now, are you okay?’

‘What – oh sorry,’ Gwilym took the cup and made his way towards the sofa, ‘you must still be pretty jetlagged, didn’t you arrive yesterday?’

‘I did. But let me be entirely honest, jetlag is nothing against being picked up by Ben in the state he was in yesterday,’ Joe pulled a face, ‘I’m sorry to be on your back about this again but he’s really not doing well.’

‘Joe –‘

‘You should have seen him. No, actually, you shouldn’t. It would break your heart.’

Gwilym shot him a look, ‘Believe me, I did that myself and I know it.’

‘So why don’t you call Ben or drop by his place? He hasn’t moved, you know?’

‘And what should I say, I have second thoughts about breaking up with you? I would like you to take me back, please, even though you will never again trust me the way you used to? I am the older person, I should know better than to just break off something that made me truly happy –‘

‘Then be the bigger person now, call him, explain what you felt and how you feel now, ask him for a second chance. You would get it, if it was up to me.’

‘Thanks, man,’ Gwilym embraced the hug Joe offered him, ‘but do you think Ben would agree with you? I can’t help but think – I did that to him. I finished with him because I couldn’t wrap my head around being with him. I couldn’t wrap my head around deserving him.’

‘Do you see that now?’ Joe shook his head, ‘honestly, you Brits are so dramatic; one’s eating less than an anorexic school girl and the other has mental break downs.’

‘What do you mean?’ Gwilym sat up.

‘Well, he doesn’t look like the hunk he trained himself to be after we finished filming, anymore. He lost weight and muscle mass. Looked like death warmed over when he picked me up from the airport. Listen, Gwil, you have to do something! You are suffering, he’s suffering, I have to pick up the pieces – neither of us is happy with this situation.’

‘Well, if I deserved him back then, I certainly don’t deserve him now after all I did to him,’ Gwilym’s voice broke slightly.

‘Shut up. You love him. He loves you, despite what he might try and tell himself. And you, Gwil, don’t get to decide who deserves your love or not.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Stop thinking of it as selfish, love and relationships are a two way thing. Just like conversation. Think of it as that: you are hurting more than just yourself. Ben doesn’t deserve your indecisive bullshit,’ Joe patted his shoulder, ‘give that a thought, okay?’

He left Gwilym staring out onto the street after he left, trying to understand what had happened. Joe had left him enough food for thought to keep him busy for days. Instead, he tried to sort through the rough ideas their conversation had left him with. He took his cup back to the kitchen, placed it in the dishwasher and turned on his heel, running his fingers through his hair. His reflection stared back at him from the hallway mirror, he brushed past it and locked himself into the bathroom.

When he emerged, showered and with a fresh shirt, he grabbed his phone and keys and left his flat. He had somewhere to be.

***

He was not surprised to see Joe open the door when he knocked. His friend nodded sharply and patted his shoulder.

‘I’m gonna pop out, do a little touristy stuff, go to a museum. Maybe I’ll do something for Instagram,’ he smiled tensely, ‘Ben is in the living room. Try to keep it together, buddy.’

‘Who is it, Joe?’

‘Not in the living room anymore,’ Joe sighed, ‘I’m out, Ben. Sit down and talk to each other, okay? Promise you’ll talk!’

Gwilym swallowed against the knot in his throat. Ben came down the hallway, a cautious look on his face. He seemed ready to turn back and slam the door shut but Joe pulled Gwilym into the flat and waved at them for a last time before closing the door behind himself.

The silence was worse than the cautious glance Ben shot him as he motioned for him to come through to the living room. Gwilym stepped past him, trying to smile encouragingly. It got stuck halfway through. Ben looked like a ghost, almost half of what he used to be, with his jawline being more prominent than ever, his shoulders slumped and his chest just so rising as Gwilym passed him.

They sat down, Gwilym in an armchair, Ben on the sofa, squeezing his body into a corner. his gaze flickered over his guest, not staying on his face for long before averting and staring at his feet.

‘What do you want?’ He sounded broken and a sharp pain shot through Gwilym’s heart, ‘Joe said he went to see you earlier so I guess you really aren’t here for him.’

Gwilym opened his mouth to say something, start explaining but a look at Ben had him choke up and lose his train of thought, ‘I – I wanted, I just wanted to apologise. For – for everything.’

Ben cut him off, a simple, sharp movement of his hand, ‘Please don’t. Don’t hurt me like this again.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of – look, Ben, I am so sorry I hurt you in the first place, you never deserved any of that. I made it about myself and the way my insecurity got to me. I have regretted breaking up with you every day, I can’t breathe without you and I feel like I let you down even more by not communicating with you when I had the chance. I am incredibly sorry, Ben, and I know you must hate me.’

‘I don’t hate you,’ Ben interrupted him, eyes still fixated on his wobbling knee, ‘by God, I wish I could hate you, Gwil, but I can’t. Just tell me what you want.’

‘I – a second chance at making it right,’ Gwilym ran his fingers through his hair, ‘I know it’s about the biggest thing I could ask you for.’

‘You come here after you broke up with me in a hotel room in the states and ask for a second chance?’

‘Ben, please, you make it sound so –‘

‘I make it sound exactly as it was,’ Ben’s eyes finally found his but Gwilym wished they hadn’t, seeing the fury blazing in them made him wish he could disappear on the spot, ‘You broke my heart in the exact moment I finally figured out what to say to make you believe that we deserved each other. It was on the tip of my tongue when we entered that room, and I almost said it before you went and stomped on what we built up together. I was ready to tell you I loved you that night.’

A single, hot tear burned its way down his cheek. Gwilym wiped it on his sleeve before Ben could see it. The severity of Ben’s words had the effect of a punch to the stomach, he wanted to double over and bury his head in his hands, cry out, plead for mercy.

‘You didn’t just break my heart,’ Ben continued, getting up to wander around, ‘You ripped it out of my chest and jumped onto it. There is nothing left that I would want to say to you, to protect myself from the pain it is going to cause me. I appreciate the apology, thank you for that. I think both of us needed to hear it.’

Gwilym managed to lift his head to see Ben standing at the door, his arms crossed, determination set in his eyes, ‘I think you should go back home now. I’ll send Joe round to look after you tomorrow.’

He picked himself up, off the chair and started to cross the room. Looking at Ben for another reassuring glance, one of the kind he had given him so often during the course of their relationship, he saw the way he shook his head. Ben’s eyes, those beautiful eyes that had smiled at him with such adoration, were almost emotionless.

‘Actually, come to think of it,’ Ben opened the door for him and waited until Gwilym had stepped over the threshold, ‘maybe you were right after all and you were the placeholder for someone else. Who knows, I might even find them. Thank you for setting me free.’

The door closed behind him with a final slam.

Gwilym started to walk away from Ben, from everything he missed so bad it hurt with every breath he took. He walked away from something he adored, someone he loved. The tears he had hidden in front of Ben ran freely down his cheeks but he could not bring himself to care as he went home to the cold flat that had lost the same warmth he had lost when he had broken up with Ben. He had played and bet, gambled with something he could not bear losing – and lost it. The first time had been his fault, the second…

Ben’s words reverberated through his body, echoed back from the house facades and choked him. He was going to replace him entirely. He was moving on and Gwilym could not bear the thought.

Something crumbled within him, something he had not known had still been there. It crumbled, leaving him without an inkling of hope. Before he could feel the emptiness inside consume him, he fumbled for his phone. If he was to walk home with tears in his eyes, he needed to hear Joe’s voice.

**Author's Note:**

> I was about half-way into writing this when I thought "Why not make it a trilogy?" So there you go: one more ficlet to go!


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